News

Fire destroys historic Urbanna home

The four people who lived in the Burton House on watling Street in Urbanna escaped and survived the fire. Two were hospitalized. The home burned to the ground last Saturday along with two trucks and a car. With its Italianate (gingerbread) trim and folk-Victorian style of architecture, the house was always a welcoming sight to everyone who came across the bridge into the Town of Urbanna. (Photo by Larry Chowning)

by Larry Chowning

The Town of Urbanna lost one of its treasures Saturday, January 6, when the historic Burton House at 49 Watling Street burned to the ground.

About 7:15 a.m. Saturday in single-digit temperatures, the Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) was dispatched to the home of Beth Justice and her husband Rod McMordie on Watling Street in Urbanna. When the firefighters arrived minutes later, flames and smoke were pouring out of windows on the east side of the house.

Justice and McMordie, and Alexis Leggett and Charles Johnson, who have been renting a room in the house, were able to get out of the burning structure only with the clothes they were wearing. As she was escaping, Justice fell and broke her ankle.

Justice is the great-granddaughter of Columbus and Lucy Burton. She and her husband are leaders of the well-known band, “Sweet Justice.”

The community steps up to help fire victims

by Tom Chillemi

There has been an outpouring of support for the victims of the January 6 fire that destroyed the Urbanna home for Beth Justice and Rod McMordie, leaders of the classic rock band “Sweet Justice.” Also displaced in the fire were Alexis Lauren Leggett and her boyfriend Charles Johnson, who had rented living space in the house.

Four GoFundMe sites have been set up and an account has been opened at C&F Bank to donate to benefit the four fire victims, which lost almost everything.

Kerry Robusto started a GoFundMe account at Sonabank in Urbanna under the title of “Beth Justice Fire Fund.” Donations also can be made at the bank.

Leggett and Johnson lost everything they owned in the fire, wrote Leggett’s mother Tia Renee Trevallion on a GoFundMe site that she created. They had been renting a room. Johnson’s truck burned and Leggett’s car was damaged.

Taylor Lockley set up “Fire recovery Fund for Charles” at GoFundMe, and the site notes there is a donation jar at Something Different in Urbanna where Johnson is employed.

Mary Atkinson’s Facebook page states she has partnered with “Kakes with a K” (better known as G’s Deli in Saluda) and Shoot for Five Photography to auction off a cake and a gift certificate for a family photo session. The auction ends February 6.

Musician Chris Stanley with “Out On A Limb” will hold a fundraiser for the victims at Something Different in Urbanna on Friday, January 19 at 7 p.m.